CU asst. J.D. Brookhart a Ram at heart

BOULDER — On a staff with a heavy emphasis on past Colorado ties, if not a few varsity letters and a degree, CU passing game coordinator/special teams coach J.D. Brookhart is definitely the odd man out this week.

Brookhart is a proud Colorado State alum. The Pueblo native started three seasons at wide receiver for the Rams, leading CSU with 683 yards in 1987. He is still ninth on CSU’s career receiving list with 1,873 from 1985-87.

“It’s going to be as blast,” Brookhart said of the reunion with his alma mater. “I have a great feeling for the CSU team.”

He said he goes back the longest with director of football operations Tom Ehlers.

The much-traveled Brookhart had a successful stint at Akron where he was Mid-America coach of the year 2004. There was a groundswell of support for Brookhart to become CSU’s coach in 2008.

As for those CSU ties, however, fellow first-year CU assistant Mike Tuiasosopo said “He’ll have to get over it.”

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.